Travels Of Richard And John Lander Into The Interior Of Africa For The Discovery Of The Course And Termination Of The Niger By Robert Huish
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They Were
Said To Be Inhabited By A Savage Race Of People Called Yamyams, That
Is Cannibals, Who Had Formerly
Carried on an extensive traffic with
the Houssa men, bringing elephants' teeth, and taking in exchange red
cloth, beads, &c.
, But five years before, they had murdered a whole
kafila of merchants, and afterwards eaten them, since which time, the
Houssa people had been reasonably shy of dealing with them.
Sultan Bello informed Lander that he had ocular proof of the fact,
that these same people are in the practice of eating human flesh. The
sultan said, that on the governor of Jacoba telling him of these
people, he could scarcely believe it, but on a Tuarick being hanged
for theft, he saw five of these people eat a part, with which he was
so disgusted, that he sent them back to Jacoba soon after. He said,
that whenever a person complained of sickness amongst these men, even
though only a slight headache, he is killed instantly, for fear he
should be lost by death, as they will not eat a person that has died
by sickness; that the person falling sick is requested by some other
family, and repaid when they had a sick relation; that universally,
when they went to war, the dead and wounded were always eaten; that
the hearts were claimed by the head men, and that on asking them, why
they ate human flesh, they said, it was better than any other, that
they had no want or food, and that excepting this bad custom, they
were very cleanly, and otherwise not bad people, except that they
were kaffirs.
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